A prisoner escapes from a jail in northern Ontario, precipitating a massive, month-long manhunt, interrupting the lives of local residents through the invasion of roadblocks, aerial surveillance, Tactics and Rescue Unit maneuvers and unrelenting media coverage. While at large, the fugitive collects almost two-dozen captives, whose description of him defies the stereotypic image of wanton criminal portrayed by the media. Instead, they report a peculiarly erudite and sympathetic man who at times seemed chagrined and even remorseful at having been forced to ensnare them in his personal drama.
Bette Logan, a North Bay woman dissatisfied with the constraints of the mores imposed on women of the times, and longing to stretch herself beyond the prescribed boundaries, finds the escapees story intriguing and decides to propose to him, after his re-incarceration, the idea of writing a book. What she discovers of herself through the gradual development of the relationship will shape her as a human being and serve to propel her beyond the relationship and on to a life lived on her own terms.
